


Isn’t It Kinda Fun

by middlemarch



Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Board Games, F/M, First Dates, Humor, Musicals, Nature, Orchestra, Parks and Rec references, Romance, park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 19:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10624044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/middlemarch/pseuds/middlemarch
Summary: She'd said yes to possibly the most awkward request for a date. He decided to leave it in her more able hands.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BroadwayBaggins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayBaggins/gifts).
  * Inspired by [You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9050740) by [middlemarch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/middlemarch/pseuds/middlemarch). 



“I should’ve listened to you,” Jed said. He knew he was grinning at her like a fool, but Mary didn’t seem to mind; in fact, she seemed to be enjoying what was sure to be his lamest expression, as least if Ez and Sam were right about his appearance, just as she’d apparently enjoyed every other part of their first, entirely-without-precedent date. He’d been prepare to go to the movies, the smaller more expensive “cinema” that catered to the college kids where there were foreign films with subtitles and showings of old black-and-white screwball comedies, or to Hilltop Creamery for some soft-serve, maybe to the Starbucks in the next town, but Mary hadn’t wanted any of that. She’d asked if they could have a picnic in the park and he’d said yes, as he’d been prepared to say to any request short of a trip to Vegas.

“Yeah, I warned you,” Mary replied. She was a good winner, he had to give her that. There’d been no gloating as she won game after game of checkers, the ultimate number of encounters shifting like the breeze in the pine trees “best two out of three, four out of seven, eleven out of nineteen…” He’d never thought there was much skill involved in checkers but he’d clearly been mistaken. He’d also never thought the game was much fun and his face had said as much when Mary fished the folded board and wooden box of checkers out of her oversized shoulder bag. He wondered if there was a brass floor lamp and fringed lampshade ready to emerge á la Mary Poppins but had known enough not to say so.

“Mary Phinney, checkers hustler,” he suggested, watching her smile. He hadn’t realized a pretty girl could get prettier just by spending more time with her, but she could and she did. He’d always seen her at school with her backpack or waiting for the bus, dressed up in black and white for the pit orchestra, just once at the library nearly hidden behind a stack of books, her hair in an approximation of Princess Leia’s buns which should have looked dorky but had been only adorable, but she’d never looked as appealing as she did right now, sitting across from him at a picnic table with peeling green paint, set far enough away from the playground that the shouts and laughter of the little kids made a sort of music instead of a distraction. She had on a blue cardigan that was embroidered with some kind of tiny flowers all around the edges and little pendant earrings she fiddled with as she jumped the checkers; her eyes were dark and bright and she’d chewed off her lip-gloss over the sandwiches and chips. If he managed to kiss her, he’d only feel her mouth, how soft it was, how sweet.

“Not quite. But my family is really into board games and it’s the only past-time at my grandmother’s place in Maine. I decided to specialize,” she said.

“You’re sure this is what you wanted? Tonight?” he asked, surveying the balled up sandwich wrappers and empty bags of chips, the bottles of iced tea. It wasn’t glamorous or artsy or particularly intellectual, all attributes he would have thought required for a successful date with Mary Phinney, success being determined by her willingness to agree to a second and third and fourth date…

“Yes. I’ve always liked going to the park. And I’ve always thought this one was like our town’s Ramsett Park, you know, from Parks & Rec? I mean, it’s not the prettiest or the fanciest, but I like the way the pine trees edge up against the sky and how you can see the edge of the pond from here. And the playground was always my favorite,” Mary replied. She had a dreamy look in her eyes that he recognized he loved.

“As long as you’re happy,” he said. He had no idea what was supposed to come next. Did they play checkers until the stars came out? Was there a pack of Uno cards in that bag or Magic: The Gathering that she was getting ready to trounce him at?

“You want to go again?” he offered, gesturing at the board.

“No, let’s leave your dignity at least marginally intact,” Mary teased, picking up the game and shoving it into her bag with less grace than he would have imagined. “Let’s clean up here and go sit on the bench by the pond. We can watch the sun go down. It’s not a school night”

He would have to thank Sam a million times for pushing him to ask her out. After all, his wildest dreams were about to become possible, sitting on a park bench with Mary Phinney who might just shiver a little and welcome his arm around her, whose face would become even more beautiful with the reflected light of the sunset on it, who might hold his left hand in hers while his right cupped her cheek as he kissed her.

“Okay, boss,” he said to try and reclaim a little equanimity. It was a waste because she grinned at him then, tossed the last wrapped into the garbage like a pro, and took his hand before he could say anything.

“Just watch out for the swans. They’re mean,” she said, squeezing his hand and glancing up at him. She didn’t say anything else as they walked to the bench, just hummed the overture from the second act of the show and he also thanked God for the trumpet lying in its case in his room, for Richard Rodgers and for Leslie Knope making a date at a park the most romantic thing ever.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a gift-fic for BroadwayBaggins after her Sierra Club donation. She wanted an expansion of the Jed and Mary being teenagers in the school musical, so I tried to oblige.
> 
> The title is a Rodgers and Hammerstein song, in keeping with the original story.


End file.
